Nadal tops Djokovic, earns first U.S. Open title and career Slam

NEW YORK — Rafael Nadal further solidified his place in the pantheon of tennis greats with a first U.S. Open crown Monday in a rain-delayed final at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The top-seeded Spaniard held off No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in 3 hours, 43 minutes to become the seventh man to complete a career Grand Slam.

At 24, Nadal — with five French Opens, two Wimbledons and one Australian and U.S. Open each — is the second-youngest man to accumulate nine Grand Slam tournament titles after Bjorn Borg.

"That's more than what I dreamed," a beaming Nadal said on court after winning his third consecutive major of 2010. Nadal joins Rod Laver in 1969 as the latest man to win three consecutive majors, the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. Next up, perhaps, could be four majors in a row at the Australian Open— a "Rafa Slam."

 

"Right now he is the best player in the world, and he absolutely deserves this title," said Djokovic, 23, the 2008 Australian Open champion playing in his second U.S. Open final.

Lunging, huffing, digging into the corners — the effort expended by Nadal and Djokovic was in their labored grunts, squeaking sneakers, fist pumps and cries of "Vamos!"

It was a fitting final for two players separated by 11 months and meeting for the first time in a Grand Slam final — with the potential to form the next great rivalry in men's tennis. Nadal prevailed to fill the only hole missing from his Grand Slam résumé, but Djokovic made him earn it.

Nadal entered the final without the loss of a set. Behind a vastly improved serve, he had rolled through 89 of 91 service games in six matches.

Third-seeded Djokovic trailed Nadal 14-7 in meetings but had won seven of their 10 on cement, including the last three. But the 23-year-old Serb had never beaten Nadal in a best-of-five match.

It didn't' start well for the Serb. Djokovic dropped serve in the opening game but then evened the match at 2-2 — breaking Nadal for just the third time in the tournament.

With the final already delayed a day by Sunday's showers, rain hit again with Nadal up a set and locked at 4-4 in the second set. When they returned, the 23-year-old Djokovic rebounded to even the match at a set apiece, denying Nadal the chance to become the first man to win the U.S. Open without dropping a set in half a century.

But Nadal quickly reasserted himself by taking an early lead in the third set and then never let up.

Even when Djokovic saw some light, Nadal clamped down. Serving at 5-4, 0-15, he unleashed two service winners and his fifth ace to take a 2-1 set lead.

"I mean, three amazing serves," said Djokovic, who upset five-time U.S. Open champ Roger Federer in a stirring five-set semifinal Saturday.

Both men survived two weeks of unpredictability — from the first few days of 90-degree heat, to swirling winds and finally, rain, which pushed the final to Monday and interrupted it again for nearly two hours.

Both also played terrifically in stretches.

Despite Nadal's punishing array of groundstrokes, slices and suddenly potent 130-mph serves, 2008 Australian Open champ Djokovic hung with him, scrambling into the corners and belting his own bushel of forehand winners in the high-quality contest — the same formula he used to upset 16-time major winner Roger Federer in the semifinals.

Djokovic was the more opportune of the two, converting three of four break chances while Nadal managed just six of 26.

Nadal finished with advantages in aces (8-5) and winners (49-45) and hit fewer unforced errors (31-47).

And the nine-time major winner played the big points better, and wore out Djokovic with his unyielding style.

"Whenever it was important, he was the one who was playing just too good," Djokovic said, adding, "He has the capabilities to be the best player ever."

When Djokovic sailed a forehand wide on match point, Nadal fell on his back, and then rolled over and heaved sobs.

Djokovic sent a signal with his own gutsy play during the fortnight, but marveled at how Nadal — a Grand Slam winner on clay, grass and cement in 2010 — continues to evolve.

"That's what's so frustrating, a little bit," Djokovic said. "He's getting better each time you play him."

Federer, Djokovic, Wozniacki move into U.S. Open semifinals

Back to beating Robin Soderling, and back to being a Grand Slam semifinalist — two things he used to do with such regularity.

Treating the whipping wind and his familiar foe as only slight nuisances, 16-time Grand Slam champion Federer served his way to a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory over the fifth-seeded Soderling in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Wednesday night.

Federer had an 18-2 edge in aces against the big-hitting Soderling, mixing speed with pinpoint placement that kept the Swede guessing.

"I've been practicing my serve a whole lot, for my whole career. If I can't serve in the wind, I've got a problem, you know?" Federer said. "You could probably wake me up at 2 in the morning, or 4 in the morning, and I could hit a few serves."

The victory improved his career mark against Soderling to 13-1. The lone loss was in their previous match, in this year's French Open quarterfinals. Soderling's victory there ended Federer's streak of reaching the semifinals at a record 23 consecutive major tournaments.

Federer then lost in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, too, prompting some to question whether his best days were behind him. But now, a month after his 29th birthday, he is back in the semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament — one that he has won five times.

Federer has won 45 of his last 46 matches in Flushing Meadows, the one exception the 2009 final against Juan Martin del Potro.

Federer will meet third-seeded Novak Djokovic in the semifinals for the third U.S. Open in a row. It's also the fourth consecutive year they'll play each other in New York, dating to the 2007 final, and Federer is 4-0 in those matches.

"You never know what's going to happen," 2008 Australian Open champion Djokovic said after beating 17th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, 6-2 earlier Wednesday. "I don't want to think about those losses in the last three years, which were really, really close."

All of the day's matches were filled with wind that gusted at up to 30 mph, sending all sorts of debris — brown napkins; plastic bags; players' towels — rolling on the court like tumbleweed, forcing points to be stopped and repeatedly making players catch their ball tosses.

About a half-dozen lets were called during top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki's 6-2, 7-5 victory over 45th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova in the last women's quarterfinal.

"This felt like playing in a hurricane or something," said Wozniacki, who is 19-1 since Wimbledon and has won her past 13 matches.

In Friday's semifinals, the 2009 U.S. Open runner-up will face 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva, who defeated 31st-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-3, 7-5 in Wednesday's first singles match.

A year ago in New York, during a fourth-round loss, Zvonareva wasted six match points and threw a tantrum right there on court. She bawled. She slammed her racket against her leg. She begged the chair umpire to get her a pair of scissors so she could cut tape off her knees.

And Wednesday? No. 7 Zvonareva was calm and composed, letting Kanepi make mistake after mistake, 60 unforced errors in all. Zvonareva finished with only 28.

"Yeah, it was blowing in every way," Kanepi said after falling to 0-3 in major quarterfinals.

Neither afternoon match featured much drama — nor doubt about who would win. In sum, they felt akin to opening acts before Wednesday's featured performers took the stage under the lights.

First came Wozniacki-Cibulkova, with Donald Trump in attendance, his hair getting mussed by the wind.

"He called my agent and asked if there was going to be a space in my box," said Wozniacki, who made only 18 unforced errors, 25 fewer than Cibulkova. "I said, 'Of course, there's always a place for Mr. Trump.' "

Trump stuck around for the main event: Federer vs. Soderling, a matchup made so much more intriguing by what happened the last time they squared off. That was on a dreary, rainy day in Paris, and the 6-foot-4 Soderling — he's 3 inches taller than Federer — used his strong forehand and serve to great effect, driving winners through the thick weather and pounding 14 aces.

On Wednesday, in contrast, Soderling didn't hit his first ace of the evening until the 143rd point of the match, nearly an hour in, earning a smattering of sarcastic cheers from some fans in the sellout crowd of 23,718. By that time, Federer already had 15 aces, including three in a row in one game.

The fast-moving air affected shots, pushing behind a player's back at one end of the court, and blowing into his face at the other. How big a deal was it? Instead of opting to serve when he won the prematch coin toss, Federer selected which side of the court he wanted to start on, choosing to have the wind behind him for the first game.

Soderling chose to serve first, against the wind, and when they switched sides after that game, he earned three break points. But Federer saved each of them, the last with an ace at 120 mph, and held to 1-all. Soderling appeared to get rattled in that game on the first break point, when Federer challenged a call and got it overturned on replay review. Soderling wanted the point replayed, but the chair umpire awarded the point to Federer. Soderling argued, to no avail.

Soderling got a fourth break chance in the sixth game, but let that slide by pushing a forehand long. From there, Federer won the next 15 consecutive points on his serve, including 10 in a row in which Soderling didn't even manage to put the ball in play with a return.

At 3-all, 30-15, Soderling blinked first. He missed a backhand, then a forehand, giving Federer his first break opportunity. And Federer made good with a fantastic drop shot that simply died on the court, ending a 12-stroke point and making it 4-3.

After an early trade of service breaks in the second set, Soderling again had a lapse at 2-all. Ahead 40-love on his serve, he badly missed what should have been an easy overhead, putting it in the net. He lost the next five points to get broken — and was never again in that set.

Soderling appeared to get himself back into the match by breaking for a 5-3 lead in the third set when Federer sailed an inside-out forehand wide on a 13-stroke exchange. The intrigue there lasted for all of a minute or so, because Federer broke right back to 5-4, helped by three consecutive errant forehands by Soderling.

At 5-all, Federer used the wind in his favor, taking a strong forehand approach shot by Soderling and hitting a hard, slice backhand lob. The shot curled over Soderling and floated down near the baseline. Soderling got there, but his forehand went long.

That helped Federer get two more break points, and he converted the second when Soderling yanked a backhand wide.

All that was left for Federer to do was serve out the victory, which he did, finishing, appropriately, with an ace.

Teams fixed on correcting mistakes after shaky starts to season

Some problems should be a snap to fix. Others might need a bit more duct tape. Heading into the second weekend of the college football season, a few notable programs have some quick fixes to make.

Florida showed first-game jitters against Miami (Ohio) as center Mike Pouncey snapped the ball all over the Swamp when quarterback John Brantley was in the shotgun. One flew past Brantley, two more landed near his shoelaces and others were slightly off target. Brantley also dropped one that hit him in the hands.

That's not all that dropped. With a less-than-impressive performance, the Gators fell three spots in the USA TODAY Coaches' Poll to No. 6. This weekend, they can't afford to make mistakes against a determined South Florida team.

"We have two very accountable people working hard to get that thing right," coach Urban Meyer said. "Those aren't true freshmen, so we have to get that fixed."

Then Meyer offered this how-to guide: Pouncey needs to better lock his wrist, the grip needs to be firmer (a sizzling noon ET kickoff resulted in a slippery ball) and Brantley must focus better on the ball.

Other first-game problems might be a bit trickier.

Oklahoma's secondary struggled in a closer-than-expected win against Utah State. Now the Sooners, who dropped two spots in the coaches' poll to No. 10, host No. 18 Florida State and a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, Christian Ponder.

Southern California's defense kept Hawaii in the game, allowing 588 yards to USC's 524 in the victory. Next up: Virginia, which won its opener for the first time in five years by beating Richmond.

Washington's offense fizzled in a loss at Brigham Young. If quarterback Jake Locker wants to remain in Heisman contention, the Huskies need a quick fix. They host Syracuse this week. Orange quarterback Ryan Nassib had a better opening performance than Locker. Syracuse won at Akron in Nassib's first start.

No. 16 LSU turned the ball over five times in a win against depleted North Carolina.

"We have a lot of work to do," LSU coach Les Miles said. "We are certainly working on ball security and on some of the decisions we make in terms of how we scramble and what we do with the ball when we scramble."

This weekend, the Tigers visit Vanderbilt, which also has a few issues to correct. The Commodores were undone by penalties and botched plays on two-point conversions and an extra point in a 23-21 loss to Northwestern.

Re-energized Padres primed for Giants

San Diego Padres manager Bud Black, driving down the freeway Wednesday to Petco Park, could finally exhale.

No longer is there a need to call San Diego Zoo authorities.

The 600-pound gorilla sitting atop the Padres' shoulders during a 10-game losing streak is finally gone. Just in time for a crucial four-game series beginning Thursday vs. the San Francisco Giants.

"Just getting that first win (Monday) took quite a bit of weight off a number of our guys," Black said. "The confidence is back. It's not that it was waning, but there was a feeling that permeates when you think you're going to win."

The Padres, who entered Wednesday with back-to-back wins and a one-game lead on the Giants in the National League West, had 25 games remaining to complete a rags-to-riches story.

If they're going to win the division, they'll have to hold off the Giants.

The teams have seven games remaining against one another, concluding the regular season with a three-game weekend series.

The Padres have won nine of 11 games against the Giants, who have the best record in the NL since July 5 and sliced 5½ games off their deficit during the Padres' slide.

The Giants are gaining confidence, manager Bruce Bochy says, particularly after he sharply scolded the starting rotation almost two weeks ago. The starters listened and certainly responded.

Since Bochy's admonition, the Giants were 7-2 entering Wednesday. The starters had suffered one loss in that stretch, lasting at least six innings in all but one game with a 2.54 ERA.